Thursday, February 23, 2017
Faith Community Church
910 Main Street
6:45 p.m.
Another year of fascinating monthly garden/nature programming has begun through the efforts of the West Chicago Garden Club. February brings Mark Spreyer from the Stillman Nature Center to the community. He will be presenting Who’s Who of Owls, where he will introduce five raptors and offer distinguishing information on each variety.
The meeting (which follows a general meeting schedule of the fourth Thursday of each month) will be held on Thursday, February 23, 2017 at the Faith Community Church, 910 Main Street. Meetings begin at 6:45 p.m. with refreshments and an opportunity for conversation amongst members and visitors. The formal presentation begins at 7:30 p.m. following a brief business meeting. Topics range from organic gardening to wildlife, as in the case of February’s program.
As an owl expert, Spreyer is sure to wow Club members and guests with fascinating information about these wild birds.
His extensive resume includes completing a graduate degree in Minnesota where he worked with Great Gray Owls before coming to Illinois to direct Chicago’s Peregrine Falcon release program.
A job offer with Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge brought him back to Minnesota in 1989. During this time he also completed work on a 5,000 square-foot raptor exhibit with the Science Museum of Minnesota.
Currently, Spreyer is the Executive Director of the Stillman Nature Center in Barrington, Illinois.
Over the course of his career, Spreyer’s expertise has been shared with many other organizations like the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the National Audubon Society, and the Chicago Academy of Sciences; as well as having taught courses at the College of Lake County and Northeastern Illinois University.
A book of nature essays titled Natural Digressions that Spreyer wrote, will be available for purchase at the Garden Club meeting. It sells for $20 and ALL proceeds go to support Stillman Nature Center, a 501(c) (3) organization.
For more information about the upcoming presentation, or for general information about the West Chicago Garden Club, visit www.westchicagogardenclub.org.
